Advisory Opinion No. 97-107

Re: Daniel R. DeDentro

QUESTION PRESENTED

The Petitioner, Deputy State Building Commissioner, a state employee position, requests an advisory opinion as to whether he may teach a course on the 1 & 2 Family Dwelling Code on his own time.

RESPONSE

It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, Deputy State Building Commissioner, a state employee position, may teach a course on the 1& 2 Family Dwelling Code provided he do so on his own time and without use of public resources. The Petitioner represents that this course is not part of the continuing education program to maintain certification under the jurisdiction of the Building Code Standards Committee. However, participants may be able to obtain continuing education credit through another entity. Given that this course is outside the Petitioner's official responsibility and that he will be teaching the course on his own time using facilities rented and paid for by himself, no inherent conflicts of interest are present under the Code of Ethics. Also, there is no indication that the Petitioner's teaching position will conflict or in anyway affect his responsibilities as Deputy State Building Commissioner. However, in the event his duality of status impairs his independence of judgment as to his official duties or otherwise results in the disclosure of confidential information, the Petitioner should exercise the notice and recusal sections of the Code.

Code Citations:

36-14-5(a)

36-14-5(b)

36-14-5(c)

Related Advisory Opinions:

96-104

96-80

96-64

96-55

96-47

92-49

90-1

77-208

Keywords:

Private employment